Garmin Edge 810: review

The Garmin Edge 810 is the GPS system of choice for the serious amateur
cyclist, writes Jonny Cooper.

The Edge 810 is Garmin's top of the range cycling GPS system, melding traditional speedometer functionality with satnav and body monitoring capabilities. At £379.99, it's one of the most expensive cycling computers on the market, and if you're new to cycling you might reasonably argue that you may as well spend that money on a new bike. The committed cyclist, though, will know the benefit of these little black boxes of magic.

For anyone cycling far, often, or for training purposes, the Edge 810 is without peer.

Form

The Edge 810 is reasonably sleek-looking and unobtrusive, though admittedly it's one of the larger cycling computers you'll come across. In truth, these products don't drastically vary in appearance (there's only so much you can do with a box of circuitry that mounts on your handlebars). You'd struggle to pick the Edge 810 out of a police line up.

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The computer's touch-screen takes up most of its front side, offering a charitable amount of real-estate for tired and sweaty fingers. Beneath it are two small and easy to hit buttons, while on the side is a discreet on/off switch.

Perhaps more important than its look is the bracket on which the computer sits. Like its younger brothers the Edge 200 and 510, the 810 clicks in to a small disk that you tie to your handlebar stem using two industrial rubber bands. The system is elegant, reliable, and far less fiddly than other products available. Garmin also supply more than one bracket, allowing you to quickly switch between bikes should you so desire.

Function

There's a lot to what the Edge 810 can do, but its functions can basically be split into three areas: it tracks your speed, it monitors your body, and it tells you where to go.

As a speedometer, it combines GPS satellite feedback with information sent from a tiny magnetic disk on your back wheel to convey your current speed, average speed and distance travelled. All pretty standard for a cycling computer.

More advanced is what you can do with these simple functions. For example, the 810 allows you to set up a system of alerts. Let your average speed drop below a certain level and it will tell you with a short series of beeps.

As the 810 is also monitoring your heart rate and cadence (the amount of revolutions your feet perform every minute), you can take these alerts a step further. For cyclists training themselves into better shape, both functions are exceptionally useful when it comes to knowing how well you're performing and how much harder you can push. After just a couple of weeks using the 810, I now wouldn't go back to using a computer without a heart rate monitor, such is the difference it makes.

The 810's real USP, however, is its navigation system. While the 200 and 510 offer differing combinations of the speedometer and body monitoring functions, neither has a TomTom-style, fully navigable GPS map. You can preplan a route with the 810's navigation system, or you can simply type in an address and let it figure out how to get you there.

It takes a ride or two to get used to the system – the screen is far smaller than you may have used in a car – but once you're accustomed to the series of beeps that tell you a turning is upcoming, it becomes a joy to ride without having to concentrate on directions and worrying about getting lost.

Set Up and interface

While getting the 810 on the handlebars is easy, it took me a good hour or so to actually begin riding.

Attaching the cadence sensor takes a bit of care – although that's not to say it's poorly designed.

More time consuming, however, is getting the box to actually display the information you want. Without a full user manual, I struggled at first to make my heart rate and cadence show up. Eventually,this video highlighted the malleable nature of the 810's seven sliding screens, each of which can be told to display any info from a menu of options. That video has nothing to do with Garmin, however, and without it I fear I would have veered close to a tech-induced hissy fit.

Extras

As with the 510, the 810 links up with a smartphone via Bluetooth, allowing you to upload rides straight to (impressively useful and happily free) Garmin Connect software. It also means friends and family can track you as you ride.